Buying a drummer's throne.. to play guitar ?

[mindwalker]

Hey guys!

I'm no drummer but I figured I'd ask here
After 1 hour playing guitar sitting on my Ikea office chair (which provides only a small cushion under your behind) I get lots of tension around my left femur. Since I rest the guitar over my left leg and lean towards that one while playing I put most of my weight in that region...

I'm guessing that a drummer's throne must be prepared for this sort of stress and more. Do you reckon that after 1 hour straight drumming you don't feel your bones and muscles around the butt stressed out ?

It's kinda hard to gauge in a shop the actual outcome of 1 hour of playing.. all chairs feel fine for 5 mins so I'd really have to spend 1 hour playing in one to see how it feels..

[Idaho]

Difference with drum stools or chairs is that while they're sitting around drummers aren't actually stuck in the same position. I've seen drummers use all sorts of stools and chairs. When I used to drum I used to use an old office chair.

One thing I might recommend though is a foot rest for your left leg. It will raise the position of your left leg therefore making you sit a bit straighter. If you're anything like me too then I find that instead of my foot being flat on the ground i only have the ball of my foot down. A foot rest, just a small box or something, will mean you can relax your leg more.

[Danukenator]

^ I use a gutted Squire amp for exactly that. Much more comfortable and it allows my lower body to be totally relaxed.

[mindwalker]

Some good advice here guys! I'll try the foot rest thingie! So far I've been resting my foot on the "star" where the wheels are typically attached... but it hasn't worked out so well as the leg is bent "inside" and goes numb quickly..

[ShadowFactoryX]

get a decent drum throne with a backrest if you can afford it
if not, a regular one will do, i use mine all the time

[StewartEhoff]

Can't say i've ever felt any stress on my back or lower areas after an intense drumming session. Until now, i've never really questioned it. I guess drum stools/thrones are just built for purpose. Some drummers have really bad posture though, and I can imagine the same can be said for some guitarists.

[mindwalker]

In the end I got an Ikea Markus office chair and didn't install the arm rests.

I got one of these to put my left leg on, to give me a good posture, close to as if I'd be standing with the guitar Amazon.com: K & M Guitar Footrest: Musical Instruments

Feels much better now.. the Ikea Markus really is an outstanding chair for the price... thinK I won't need any drum throne for now although they might have been even more comfortable but then it would be awkward to use as my computer desk chair as well...

[StewartEhoff]

Wow, haha! Never knew you could buy such a foot rest, go figure. Hope the leg problem goes away at very least. Keep rockin'.

[ElRay]

That's a Classical foot rest. The other thing you can do is get a Hamre NeckUp I always use it with my acoustic, and I have a smaller suction cup to use it with my electric. My daughter uses a Gitano Guitar Support.

There's a bunch of threads about playing in the Classical position here. Do a quick search.

Unfortunately, my Revenger sits too low (vertically) when I use the Neck-Up, even though it's at the right angle, I still have to lean a bit to far forward. So, I play that one with a strap, even sitting.

Back to the original topic, I've been looking at getting a drum throne for my daughter. We've been carting a chair around for her group lesson, because none of the ones in her classroom are the right height. When she does her private lesson, it's OK, because the teacher has five different chairs, but even then, my daughter is between sizes and has to sit on the smallest chair and use a pillow. Since we have to cart around a chair anyway, we might as well use one that will be at the exact right height.

That's started me looking at getting one of those "bike seat" drum thrones for myself too. I'll be able to adjust it to the right height so that my legs are parallel to the ground, feet flat on the floor, and give the support where I need it w/o cutting into the back of my legs.

Ray

[iron blast]

key board benches work well also

[MatthewLeisher]

My dad has a drum throne without a back and I took it for my guitar stool. It works so perfectly, i'd highly recommend it.